New OSHA Guidance: COVID-19 Illnesses Not Recordable for Construction
On April 10, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) revised its guidance on whether employers are required to record cases of COVID-19 in their Form 300 Logs for reporting occupational injuries and illnesses. OSHA’s memo is in direct response to significant concerns raised by NAHB and construction industry partners in a letter to OSHA regarding its position on the recordability of COVID-19 cases.
OSHA states that in areas where there is ongoing community transmission, employers may have difficulty making determinations about whether workers who contracted COVID-19 did so due to exposures at work. Until further notice, OSHA will not enforce its recordkeeping requirements to require these employers to make work-relatedness determinations for COVID-19 cases, except where: (1) There is objective evidence that a COVID-19 case may be work-related; and (2) The evidence was reasonably available to the employer.
OSHA recordkeeping requirements required covered employers record certain work-related injuries and illnesses on their OSHA 300 log.
However, employers of workers in the healthcare industry, emergency response organizations and correctional institutions must continue to make work-relatedness determinations.
OSHA’s guidance takes effect immediately and remains in effect until further notice, which is intended to be time-limited to the current national public health emergency.
Access the latest NAHB news and business resources to respond to this challenge in the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response section on nahb.org.
Latest from NAHBNow
Jul 02, 2025
From Disaster Relief to Challenging Gas Bans, HBAs are Making a DifferenceNearly two dozen HBAs received Association Excellence Awards for outstanding contributions they made on behalf of their members and communities in 2024.
Jul 01, 2025
One Big Beautiful Bill Act Will Spur Economic GrowthNAHB Chairman Buddy Hughes issued the following statement after the Senate passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Latest Economic News
Jul 02, 2025
Two or More Story Home Starts Rebound in 2024Over half of new single-family homes built in 2024 were two or more stories, according the recent release of the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction (SOC). After declining in 2023, the share of homes started with two or more stories increased again in 2024, continuing the upward trend in place since 2020.
Jul 01, 2025
May Private Residential Construction Spending DipsPrivate residential construction spending fell by 0.5% in May, marking the fifth straight month of decreases. This drop was primarily driven by reduced spending on single-family construction. Compared to a year ago, total spending was down 6.7%, as the housing sector continues to navigate the economic uncertainty stemming from ongoing tariff concerns and elevated mortgage rates.
Jul 01, 2025
Flat Job Openings for ConstructionThe count of open, unfilled positions in the construction industry held steady amid a slowdown for housing, per the May Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).